president obama meets today with business leaders focusing on ab boarding the fiscal cliff. on capitol hill democrats and republicans are not meeting and a deal does not seem to be close. in a just-released gallup poll, 62% of americans want to see a compromise. 25% want republican and democratic leaders to hold firm on spending cuts and tax increases. major garrett is at the white house this morning. >> reporter: there is a common thread running through all of this. the public wants a deal. so do the governors, mayors, civic leaders, business executives and everyone else who has come through capitol hill and the white house to talk about the fiscal cliff. for the first time since this drama began to play out on a very public stage, yesterday there were no substantive negotiations or conversations whatsoever, none at all. and here is what the public thinks about all this. if, in fact, the nation does go off the fiscal cliff and negative consequences ensue, by a two to one ratio, by the most recent poll, it will blame republican, not the white house. the white house knows thi